Jude: The book you never hear preached

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now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
and to present you faultless

before the presence of his glory

with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior who alone is wise
Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power,

Both now and forever. Amen.

The most neglected book in the New Testament

What he wanted to do
What he ended up doing
Story of Bible College professor who challenged his students to read all the N.T. and find the most common warning
- They were shocked to find it was false teachers
This is not a popular message today
- It’s seen as negative and not uplifting
Who were they?
- Deliberately unspecified (we can’t identify them from church history)
  - Not so specific that it might not be relevant for us
1. Hyper-grace: not under law so I can do anything
2. Claimed to be Spirit-filled with prophetic dreams
- Marked out long ago: They had a long-term plan. God had seen them long ago
- These are not Christians who have drifted away, but evil men

Unbelief
Pride & power-seeking
Sexual immorality
e.g. Children of God
Quote from the Assumption of Moses
- Explanation of problem of the quote
- What was this about? (suggestion of story)
- What’s the problem with this. Does the Devil deserve respect?
  - Michael was not to respect the Devil, but not to take authority into his own hands: the Lord was the judge

Chosen to focus in on the kind of false teaching
- Cain: Not just that he killed his brother—it all started with him switching to a different way of worshipping, that cost him little
  - Hey, you don’t need a lamb. God’s ok with just a few vegetables
  - The key is false teaching
- Story of Balaam (prophecy for money)
- Challenge to unity, stirring up dissent
  - The horror of church splits
These are pretty dark condemnations. Isn’t he going over the top?
Quote from the book of Enoch
- Never considered by the Jews as part of Scripture
- This is the only quote
- Not inspired, but at least this quote must be accurate
  - Justice will be done in the end

Finally we get to some positive stuff :)
- Are we in the last times?
- Does Jude think he is? —actually the N.T. does refer to these last days that we are all in
Be the opposite to these people!

Warning: You must judge leaders by their fruit.
- Are they out for personal gain?
Pray in the Spirit (Rom 8 says this is means receiving the Father’s love) in order to
- keep yourselves in the love of God
- Compassion spilling out to others, as you are filled with this love
- Rescue those caught up in bitterness, protecting your own heart
Receive this blessing